1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to containers for food products, and more particularly to a food delivery system and associated packaging for hand-held food products.
2. Background and Description of Related Art
In recent years, there has been increased interest in hand-held foods, e.g., single serve food items for consumption without utensils. Such items are intended to be easily handled by the consumer so that they can be eaten in a variety of circumstances, e.g., while driving, without requiring a great deal of time and attention, preferably without leaving residue on the consumer's fingers. In providing a container for this type of product, among the considerations that must be addressed are the ability of the container to receive product in high-speed commercial filling operations; the degree of difficulty that will be encountered by the consumer in dispensing product from the container; the ability of the container to withstand various loads, such as stacking loads, during filling, sealing, shipping, display, and consumer use; the ability of the container to be packed efficiently among like containers; the cost of manufacture of the container; the ability of the container to exclude air to enable acceptable shelf life to be maintained, and the costs and difficulty associated with forming, filling and sealing the container. It is also important that containers of this type be aesthetically pleasing where they are intended to be displayed for commercial sale to consumers in grocery stores and/or other retail establishments.
It is a general object of the invention to provide a lightweight, economical, commercially viable container for food products which adequately addresses the above considerations, and which includes a food delivery system to facilitate dispensing of single servings of hand-held food products.